What Can You Do to Improve Your Memory? You have probably seen adver. tisements on television for self-help courses which promise to “unleash the power of perfect memory, forev- er!” You may have wondered if they are effective, and if they are worth the rather steep price. This is another example of the adage, “if it looks t00 ‘good toxbe true, it probably is ‘These courses usually do have some ‘merit in some limited circumstances. ‘But the techniques used by these courses require considerable practice * d effect; many techniques work ‘well with only certain kinds of mate- rial. Of course, they cannot unleash ‘a “perfect, photographic memory.” because memory simply doesn’t work that way. Rather than leaning many differ- ent mnemonic techniques which are Gifficult and restricted in their appli- cation, you are likely to derive more benefit if you understand and epply 1 few general principles of memory: 1. Memory is best when material is learned and comprehended, rather than memorized in a rote fashion. 2. Memory is best when the condi- tions at rcirieval are similar to the conditions at encoding, That is, you may be able to remember more if you recreate the original learning environ- Fall 1996 ‘ment, even if you just imagine the Jeaming environment. You may have noticed that returning to campus ‘cues memories you have not thought about in years. Reruring to campus has pro- vided you with retrieval cues to “trigger” the memories. 3, Strategies which enhance encoding are usually most likely to improve memory. Just a few seconds of deliberate ‘encoding, associating the name with the face, or using a just-leamed name in a conversation, will fften improve memory. ‘With practice, this é enhanced encoding can Ag be quite rapid. 4. Memory is best when effect and emotional arousal are high, but not extremely high. If you have predictable “down times” uring the day, avoid taking classes or studying during those times. Also, the more involved with the material you can be, the more memory will be enhanced, 5, Since memory is reconstructive, the number and type of “ues at retrieval are critical. ‘Sometimes retrieval gets blocked by incorrect answers. You're certain ‘you know the answer, but you just ‘can’t seem to retrieve it IF this hap- pens, just quit thinking about it for several minutes. Sometime later, try again to remember, but try to use new and different retrieval cues. Don’t be embarrassed to use external retrieval cues like notes or reminders, 6. Memories are better if study is spaced out over shorter but more Frequent learning sessions (rather than longer, less frequent learning sessions). 7. Memory is best if material is ‘encoded and stored in more than one way. For example, say you ; ho attempt to list all the schools in the Big 12, but can only generate ten of them. You may be able to access the missing schools by relying on other things you know about the schools in the conference: What are the for- mer SWC schools? What universities fare in Oklahoma? Which have won. sports championships? 8. Don’t expect your memory to be perfect, and use external aids if you need them, Many of us place unreal- istic demands on memory, probably because we assume that it should be as perfect as a videotape. Don't hesi- tate to write things down or leave ‘yourself reminders. Many times the ery act of writing a phone number ‘will enhance your memory. a Reprinted and adapted from Wortman. CB, Loftus, EF, & Weaver, C.A. I aychology, Sth edition, to published by McGraw-Hill, September 1997. 35